Inspiration

It's now been over two years since I first arrived in India, bright-eyed and hopeful. When I first got here, I was guided by unbridled optimism (we're going to change the world!!!)... which was duly checked within a week of being here, as I struggled with the cognitive dissonance of my daily life - where I worked 100+ hours a week at a social enterprise, yet felt powerless in the overwhelming face of poverty in a city as developed as Hyderabad. As an Acumen fellow, I blogged about my horror at realizing my apartment guard slept in our garage, along with his young son. How naive that post seems now! Yet these still remain the hard questions... do I give to beggars on the street? -- what about if they are mothers with babies, when I'm on my way to LifeSpring?

Still no easy answers, but this week I got a jolt of inspiration when watching Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.

Some highlights, which made me think of the importance of the work we're doing - even those days where it just feels like a small drop in a vast ocean:

"Even those of us with the best intentions will at times fail to right the wrongs before us. But we do not have to think that human nature is perfect for us to still believe that the human condition can be perfected.

We do not have to live in an idealized world to still reach for those ideals that will make it a better place. The nonviolence practiced by men like Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every circumstance, but the love that they preached -- their faith in human progress -- must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey.

For if we lose that faith... we lose our sense of possibility. We lose our moral compass.

...So let us reach for the world that ought to be -- that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls.

...We can acknowledge that oppression will always be with us, and still strive for justice. We can admit the intractability of deprivation, and still strive for dignity. We can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace. We can do that -- for that is the story of human progress; that is the hope of all the world; and at this moment of challenge, that must be our work here on Earth."

Laughing all the way

Last night I came home to find my whole apartment flooded...

Not the most fun, to say the least... So I thought I'd try to find humor in my commute to work this morning. That's the great thing about India -- you just have to get out of your head, open your eyes, and it's incredible what you notice.

Some highlights from my ride to work:

(1) Whereas in the US, buses pull over and stop to pick up/drop off passengers, buses in India do one or the other (in other words: stop OR pull over)... but never both.

There's a bus "stop" near my apartment, but that's an oxymoron. Instead, buses pull over to the curb, indicating that the race to start running and get onto the bus has started. Buses slow down, but never actually stop moving. Men who make it onto the moving bus reach their arms outwards to grab their buddies who are still chasing the bus.

Alternatively, buses simply stop right in the middle of the road. People board and unboard... all the while cars, autos, and bikes steer around the bus, getting into all sorts of traffic jams from oncoming traffic from the other direction.

(2) One thing I love about our new office is that we're surrounded by elementary schools. So walking to work in the morning, all I hear is a cacophony of little kids literally SCREAMING: "AAAAAA!!!! BBBBBB!!!! CCCCC!!!!" It's the cutest thing ever.

(3) Where else but India are these "normal" sightings in a morning commute? -- a dog riding in the middle of a scooter; a little boy STANDING up behind his father on the seat of a motorcycle; babies bundled like it's the middle of winter... when it's 82 degrees!

The other great thing about India: marble floors and squeegee wipers. Still not sure what caused the flooding at home, but in the end, it's just another day here in Hyderabad :)

A lesson in politics

What a difference a week makes!

This time last week, I returned from a weekend in Delhi to find Hyderabad in its second day of strikes to call for the formation of a new Telangana state. Offices were closed, streets empty, and newspapers reported on the movement's leader on a hungry strike in jail.

Only three days later -- midnight on Thursday -- the Andhra state government, headed by chief minister K Rosaiah, announced it would indeed back the proposal of a new state, thus creating Telangana from the north-western part of what's now Andhra Pradesh.

Of course, this only set in place a *process* for statehood formation, but still -- quite a big deal, to say the least! I couldn't help but think of how strangely easy it seemed for a new state to be formed... not to belittle the movement, but it was literally just a few days of strikes, all of which were announced in advance -- giving Hyderabadis time to stock up on necessities -- whether it be petrol or cash, or in the case of my friends - wine and beer.

In a strange way, last week's situation and the declaration of a new state (at least in process) highlights one key way to get things done here in India: persistence and the willingness to make others around you uncomfortable until you get what you need. As I'm learning, not only is anything possible in India, but everything is negotiable as well.

Returning once again from a weekend in Delhi, I find that the situation has only gotten worse. It's actually turned into quite a political drama, with over 100 MLAs and ministers resigning from state government, causing what many are calling a constitutional crisis. Newspapers report that the chief minister of Andhra is likely to resign, with President's Rule on the state a dawning possibility.

Headlines report that "Chaos Engulfs Angry Pradesh", with both anti-Telangana and Telangana supports becoming more violent. The key question seems what to do about Hyderabad, which is geographically in Telangana but economically, its business leaders mainly hail from Andhra.

Guess we'll have to wait and see! Never a dull moment in India...

A lesson in geography

Hyderabad is eerily quiet today. After returning from a weekend in Delhi, I expect to find Hyderabad in its normal manic Monday state of affairs. But today there are few cars on the roads, all the shops are closed, public transportation non-existent, and all gas stations resemble ghost-towns.

I've arrived to the second day of a city-wide strike, and as such, get a lesson in geography, politics, statehood, and modern-day hunger strikes.

The 48-hour shutdown has been called by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), which is demanding a separate state of Telangana in Andhra Pradesh -- which would be the white region below.

The TRS party chief, K. Chandrasekhara Rao (called KCR -- gotta love all the acronyms in India!), began a hunger strike (or "fast-unto-death", as they call it here) a week ago. To avert his fast and the fast's potential to turn KCR into a martyr, the government arrested KCR the day before his strike was set to start.

Instead, KCR began his fasting in jail, and is now in his ninth day of fasting. Over the course of these nine days, there have been numerous suicides by hanging and self-immolation protesting his arrest. Meanwhile, the government gave KCR saline by force to end his fast after 36 hours, although he continued with the fast.

From what I've heard, there have been riots around the city, although everything feels quiet and safe over here in Banjara (although I keep receiving texts saying not to leave my house unless I'm in a car). In fact, the day seems almost happier and more carefree than usual, with a group of schoolboys playing cricket in front of my apartment and girls playing badminton, taking advantage of schools being closed.

Global Thinkers and Local Listeners

This week, Foreign Policy published its list of 100 Top Global Thinkers. Among them were Jacqueline Novogratz for helping build a new generation of social entrepreneurs and Muhammad Yunus for proving that the poor are profitable.

Perhaps one of the reasons they're such great thinkers is that they're amazing listeners. Each time Jacqueline visits LifeSpring, I'm inspired by the extent to which she wants to interact directly with our customers -- not just talk to them superficially, but really learn about their needs, how they make decisions, and what matters most to them. During her last visit to LifeSpring earlier this fall, she and Catherine spent time at our new hospitals, went to visit our customers in their homes and in our communities, and spent time at a nearby government hospital to see the vast gulf that exists, yet is often hard to communicate with hard metrics and figures.

Additionally, when I met Muhammad Yunus at this year's World Health Congress in Washington, D.C., I was humbled by how interested he was about LifeSpring's model -- asking numerous questions and asking how our lessons learned can be applied to Bangladesh.

During our first few days of the Acumen Fund fellowship, Wangari told us an African saying: "There's a reason you have two ears and only one mouth."

Looking at the Foreign Policy list, maybe this crucial skill of asking the right questions and truly listening is one of the key determinants to being an effective global thinker.

The Turkey that went to India...

... is the name of a recipe I found last week on my third of six flights in ten days!

Sounded pretty delicious (and appropriate), so thought I'd pass along, in case anyone has leftover turkey they don't know what to do with :)

Being home and celebrating two Thanksgivings in NY and LA was amazing... incredible food, warm company, and the feeling of being "home" with family and friends who are so close that we can just sit and watch paint dry (point illustrated below!)

The big joke all week was how much I'd eat...never before was I the human trash bin that ate everyone's leftovers! So it seems appropriate that food remains the topic for discussion...

Here's the recipe I found in the NY Times for turning leftover turkey into an Indian culinary delight:

"There is something important about the question of what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers...we've got all this stuff, what are we going to do with it now? Sandwiches may be delightful, but those happen Thursday night. By Friday, you may have had enough traditional American food and may be craving something on the opposite end of the spectrum, something with a bit of spice. Something, perhaps, with curry powder and coconut milk: a turkey curry"

TURKEY AND SPINACH CURRY

Time: about 20 minutes

2 tablespoons oil (the recipe calls for peanut; I think coconut would be really yummy and Trish-friendly)

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or to taste

1 cup tomatoes, chopped (if canned, include their juice)

1 cup coconut milk

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 pound fresh spinach, roughly chopped

2 cups leftover turkey, roughly chopped

Freshly chopped cilantro for garnish

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; add onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until they begin to soften, about 2-3 minutes. Add cumin, coriander, tumeric, and cayenne and cook, stirring, until spices are fragrant, about another minute.

2. Add tomatoes and their juices and coconut milk and sprinkle with salt and pepper; bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for another 8 to 10 minutes, or until tomatoes break down.

3. Add spinach and turkey to pan and continue to cook until spinach wilts and turkey is warmed through, another 3-5 minutes. Adjust seasoning, garnish with cilantro and serve.

Yield: 4 servings

Delicious!!! Or as they say here, SWADEESH!!!

Happy 70th Birthday Mom!!

The cousins toast to 70 years young! ...

... while everyone's grateful to spend early Thanksgiving together as a family.